Friday, March 29, 2013

Alamo City Faces Second City in Week 5 Action
Seeking to start the season with a fifth straight win, the Alamo City Soccer Club continued to make moves at the bottom of the roster in order to firmly entrench the club at the top of the table. Kleberson won't be available this weekend as the paperwork is still getting sorted out, but the World Cup veteran joins the Battle alongside other newcomers Edgar Mejia and teenage sensation Jack McBean. "You need strength up and down the roster in this league. Our start is the perfect example of that. I've yet to hit the mark, Kenny has played well but just hasn't found the net but once, and Oba hasn't really taken the field for us yet. But, we've managed to start hot anyway," said team captain Theirry Henry. While the Battle look to have a full arsenal this weekend, Henry's status is going to be a game time decision. That said, he'll be named as a starter even if there's a slight chance he doesn't get the go ahead. The Battle are looking forward to having all of their big guns on the field at once.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Another week, another 4-1 victory for the Alamo City Battle Soccer club. A stark contrast to their last meeting with the Spartans, the result is becoming a familiar sight in the morning headlines on Monday. "I dunno, it's just one of those things," stated an emotional Ben Speas after the match. "As long as we're on the right end of it, every match can finish 4-1 for all I care. The good news is that we're finding decent points and our main firepower has yet to get going this season."

The new acquisition put his first MLS and BSL goal in the back of the net and the former teammate with the Crew and in college of the late Kirk Uso couldn't be happier. Rightfully so, he was emotional during and after the match but his contribution highlights the main story for the Battle this season. Thierry Henry has yet to produce, Patrice Bernier was the price for signing Obafemi Martins, Andrea Pisanu has played well but hasn't figured in on the score sheet yet, and Kenny Cooper has only hit for one point so far this season. The rest of the lineup though, is carrying the club. "That's the whole point really," stated Alamo City management. "You need a deep roster capable of producing on any given match day. You stars aren't always going to be on. The entire lineup needs to be capable and right now ours is. We drafted the way we did on purpose, and we've reacted to the initial flow of the season pretty well also."

The very bottom of the roster has been a rotating door so far but things look to be solidifying for the Battle. Time will tell just how far the roster will take the club this season, but so far the Battle are enjoying things.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Alamo City Aims to Continue Hot Start
The last time these two teams met, Alamo City got it handed to them by a 9-2 score line. It was ugly all the way around, kind of like the lineups that most teams are fielding this week due to the International Duties of many BSL players. Alamo City drafted accordingly this season, but they will still be missing three players for week 4. Obafemi Martins is the only player with his National Team, but both Jean-Baptiste and Thierry Henry will also miss the match. Baptiste has a bye and Henry is getting a normal rest due to an unfavorable playing surface. So, the Battle will rely heavily on a few new additions as well as they Texas teams to get through the week.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Alamo City Claims Another Victory Over Union SC
"It just goes that way against some teams," state Alamo City management after their 4-1 victory over Union. "For some odd reason certain teams and players have your number. We just happen to have Union's. It isn't like we know the drill though, CD whips us every time we take the field."

The story was the same this weekend for the Battle as they won their third in a row to start the season in a second straight 4-1 match.

It was tense early on and the momentum looked as though it might go the way of Union on the strength of a beautiful assist from Steve Zakuani. Sunday the tide turned late in the Texas Derby as Michel assisted on Kenny Cooper's match winning goal. "It was a great feeling when that played out, because we couldn't shake the ugly feeling after Henry's unbelievable match with 10 shots, 5 shots on goal, but amazingly no goals. He even had a few assists that weren't due to the bad luck finding Fabian Espindola as well." Despite it all, the Battle found a way to pull out the victory and continue their dominance of Union SC.

Battle Entertain Union SC in First Home Match of Season.
A familiar foe comes to San Antonio this weekend as the Union SC Blues try to knock down the door of Stone Oak Park. Fresh off the heals of announcing that the club has signed Nigerian star Obafemi Martins, word is coming out that it is possible the Screaming Eagle gets some minutes this Saturday. While he is highly unlikely to start, it is possible he does get into the match. "And that, is a chance we can't pass up and that's why Martins is in the squad this week."

The club has been very good about catching lightning in a bottle in its history and isn't going to leave anything to chance on this one. "If it happens, we'll reap the benefit of it. If not, it was well worth the risk." Some might be looking ahead to next week already given the track record between the two clubs, but it isn't anyone in Alamo City's camp. They know the feeling as they find themselves in Union's shoes with another team in the league, their arch rival. "This must be how the Gunners feel about us. They own us, but that one win ... was huge. Anyone that knows the history of this league knows what the win Union SC holds over us means. We're only looking forward to finding the back of the net on Saturday."

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Alamo City Completes Largest Ever Transfer in BSL History
"The Super Eagle has landed and he's landed in San Antonio." That's right, Obafemi Martins has inked a contract with the Alamo City Soccer Club. While he's a couple of weeks away from taking the field due to securing his Visa, the impact of this news is already carrying across the BSL, MLS, and rest of the American soccer landscape.

"Are you kidding me ? The moment we heard he was interested we were intent on signing him. He's as dynamic a player as you'll find. He's playing for a quality Spanish club in Levante, leading them in scoring I might add, tearing up the Europa League, and is an International Star for Nigeria ? Oh by the way he's in his prime ? Yeah, there's no way he was ending up anywhere else but here." That was the sentiment coming from Alamo City headquarters today as the club made the official announcement. The Battle have been extremely lucky with player acquisitions over the years and have always been able to land top caliber players. Martins continues this trend.

"We're all excited," added club talisman Thierry Henry. "A player of his talent at the prime of his career is what you always want on your team. I look forward to partnering with him and I know the rest of the guys do as well." The firepower is mounting up for the Battle but the signing of Martins didn't come without a cost. "Unfortunately signing Obafemi meant letting go of a player we drafted with high expectation. Patrice Bernier is probably the most underrated and undervalued player in North America right now. We loved the fact he fell to us in the draft ... although we'd be lying if we didn't admit our picking him was two fold. He represented a tremendous value on production when he fell to us, but he also provided this very capability for the club. We evaluated Patrice, his performance and where the goals came from, and his future role in Montreal. With their acquisitions and his being moved to a more holding center mid role, and his 6 PK goals last year, we were able to pull the trigger on this by letting him go. It's an unfortunate situation but sometimes it happens. We hope he does well with whichever BSL team he ends up with."

The Battle are also closely watching the waiver wire to see who becomes available due to the bidding war for Bernier.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Japanese Star's Golazo Sparks Battle to Week 2 Victory
It was a pretty good all around performance for the Alamo City Soccer Club in Week 2 of BSL action. The club managed to get scoring from four players (Kobayashi, Bernier, Pajoy, Michel) as Kobayashi has started to make a claim for being a team leader on the pitch. Obviously the talisman is Thierry Henry but the superstar hasn't been able to get on the scorecard in the first two matches for the Battle.

That's something that Kobayashi has done and right now he's the leader in the locker room. "It's great," said Henry. "A big part of our success last year was the fact that everyone contributed and everyone could be counted on. I had a few spots of being unable to contribute and the entire roster picked up the pace. Out of the gate this season Daigo has done a fantastic job of leading this team with his play. The front office did a fantastic job of making him their target in the draft. He's paying the club back already with two victories to start the season."

It has indeed been a great start for Kobayashi and Alamo City. The club hopes to continue the hot streak to start the season and hope that the current run of form continues for a few select other teams.

In player transaction news, the club has released Johnny Leveron and signed Andrew Jean-Baptiste.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Battle Face Gold Coast Team That Has Their Number
Fresh off an intense struggle with the defending BSL Champions, the Alamo City Soccer Club finds itself staring straight into the eyes of a team that has had their number over the course of its history. Gold Coast comes to town owning the overall series with Alamo City (4-2-1) as well as having outscored the Battle (18-14) as well. While Alamo City did take the last match up 4-1, the Battle are facing a stiff test in just the second week of BSL action. The week's action should be quite interesting as Gold Coast has started the season on a string of bad luck. First, Torsten Frings announced his retirement and cost Gold Coast their DP. Right after that, the Sounders announced the release of Christian Tiffert which further dug into the Suns' roster. Pair those two early season losses with other players missing this week's game (Ricardo Clark, Adam Moffet) due to a bye with their home club, and injuries to Sal Zizzo and Logan Pause and Gold Coast can't even field a full starting 11. To make matters worse, the man tabbed to start in goal for Gold Coast may not even play this week as Matt Reis is in a position battle in New England. All of that certainly spells disaster for the Suns, right ?

Not so fast says Alamo City.

"Higuain can win a match by himself if he gets hot. Arnaud was all over the action for Montreal last week, and Findley is streaky ... which means he scores in bunches when he does score. This, by no means is a gimme match. We play like we did last week and we'll probably drop the points." The performance last week was good enough to take a match here and there when things get dicey. That's well and good from time to time. However, to do what Alamo City did last year (top the table - 2nd only on APG) and be in the running for all of the hardware, they'll need to start pouring in the goals.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Alamo City Claim 2-1 Win in First Kick Match of Cup Champions
There were many blown chances and several goals that should have been for Alamo City, but in the end the Battle ended up on the right side of the scoreline. New play-maker Daigo Kobayashi provided an assist and Jimmy Nielsen added a save point to tally the winning margin for Alamo City.

With the rest of the league exploding all over the scoreboard, Alamo City and Rose City were locked in a tense struggle. "It was nip and tuck the entire way," said Thierry Henry. "We had several chances, I had several chances, but the goals just didn't come. We still played quite well though and found a way to take the three points. Early in the season, facing the defending league champions this is what matters." Henry wasn't alone in putting in a good performance. Giles Barnes also flirted with a goal on several occasions and both Andrea Pisanu and Rafael Baca found themselves in the middle of a few scoring opportunities.

Regardless of how it was done, the win is big to open the season with. Now Alamo City will gear up for Gold Coast who put three up on the board on opening weekend.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Alamo City Takes on Defending BSL Champions
The offseason is over, the draft complete, and it is now time for the matches to begin. BSL First Kick 2013 is here and the Alamo City Battle open the campaign with a tall task. They've got to entertain the defending league champions. That's all well and good according to team captain Thierry Henry.

"We love it. You can not ask for a better match to open the season. The BSL Champions and the Major's Cup Champions. I thrive off of this kind of competition and this club does too. I know that we'll be ready and I hope that they are too. If not, they'll get embarrassed. They had a wonderful season last year and deserve all of their praise for their season. We've been doing this since day one though, and they're going to learn very quickly that it takes more than one season to make it in this league."

Henry is never one to shy away from things and for good reason. The superstar put up MVP level numbers last season. He won't have to do it alone though. In the 2013 BSL Draft he got plenty of help. Club legend Kenny Cooper returns home this season. Also joining the Battle were International stars Daigo Kobayashi and Andrea Pisanu. Both men bring experience from the highest levels of the game. Further strengthening the squad are arguably the two best defensive players in the league in CB Aurelien Collin and GK Jimmy Nielsen. They'll have help on the back line with Honduran Olympic Captain Johnny Leveron and Brazilian LB Michel. They key to the squad could end up being the underrated Patrice Bernier. Rounding out the squad are the returning Giles Barnes, Rafael Baca, Alex, Maicon Santos, and Lionard Pajoy. All in all the Battle will field a lineup heavy on firepower up top, but with plenty of scoring spread throughout the rest of the players.